1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a system for protecting buildings where environmental or other needs make this necessary.
2. Prior Art
The greatest problems that our planet has to face, and against which man is almost powerless, are created by natural catastrophies such as hurricanes, flooding, fires, earthquakes.
Other problems that are hard to solve are those caused by criminals and by vandals and these are steadily increasing by evolution both of social customs and by the tactics adopted by those committing such crimes. Further problems still are created by particularly adverse climatic conditions such as exceptional temperatures. As regards the disasters caused by natural calamities the cost of remedying them has now risen as high as thousands of billions of dollars.
It is another object of the present invention to make a contribution towards preventing the above-described type of damage at least for comparatively smaller buildings as will be explained below.
The U.S. Pat. No. 2,653,468 discloses a structure for a building designed especially to provide protection against bombardment.
This protection is obtained by a box-type structure made in the ground, open at the top, able to contain the building constructed on a continuous rigid flat structure supported by a central hydraulic jack, situated in the bottom of the box, by means of which the building can be stood at ground level or be sunk entirely inside the box.
Connection between services inside the box and external branch lines for electricity, telephone, water and drainage essentially consist of rigid pipes joined by elbow joints nearly all of which extend substantially below the building.
Said box can be closed, when the building has been lowered inside it, by a very thick covering slab able to protect the building from bombardment. The above structure has considerable drawbacks, mainly in the oversized central hydraulic jack and the heavy structure of the box especially the covering slab, reflected in the cost of the construction and in its operation because of the complexity of the devices for these purposes.
Connections for electricity, phone, water, drainage by piping with elbow joints are highly complex and present problems of maintenance.
Material will inevitably accumulate at all elbow joints of pipes for fluids.
All connections for electricity and telephone show weak points likely to cause breakdowns, these too at the elbow joints in these connections.
Such problems are increased because about ten articulated joints are needed for each connection. It is well-known that articulations constitute weak points wherever moving parts are joined.